Temple Lentz Preserves History and Writes the Future -📍 Vancouver, WA

Temple Lentz doesn’t believe in silos. As President and CEO of The Historic Trust, Vancouver Port Commissioner, and a published novelist, she connects history, leadership, and creativity to help shape Clark County’s cultural and civic future. Temple joins us to chat about how she uplifts the past while celebrating and supporting our thriving and innovative community.

🗺️ Visit The Historic Trust at: thehistorictrust.org  | Facebook | Instagram

🗺️ Visit Temple at: templelentzbooks.com | Facebook | Instagram

👀 For pictures, video, and more, visit the episode page. 

🎉 This episode also celebrates:
- Willful Wine at the Grant House
- White Oak Books
- Vintage Books
- Hidden House Event Space
- Thatcher’s Coffee

⭐️  Thanks to our sponsor, Gardner School of Arts & Sciences. Enrollment is open and financial aid is available!

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📣  Share your voice on our Community Voices segment! 

📍 I'm Into This Place is Clark County, Washington's arts, culture, and heritage podcast. We take you behind the scenes with the artists, makers, and community leaders shaping our local culture - from art and music to food, history, and heritage. Find more at imintothisplace.com.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Most of the time on I'm Into This Place, you'll know if you've been listening for a while, that I interview one person or two people who have a particular specialty. Is that cooking? Is that writing, is that sculpting? Is that some kind of advocacy work? Well, today on the podcast, I have a guest who defies singular categorization.

In fact, she's wearing so many hats, I hardly know where to [00:00:30] begin. But this person is one of those folks here in Clark County whose name comes up again and again and again as somebody who is a true advocate for creativity in her community, for advocacy in her own backyard, and also who is a creative human herself.

Today, my guest is Temple Lentz. Temple is the President and CEO of the Historic Trust, and she's the newest commissioner for the [00:01:00] Port of Vancouver. She previously served on the Clark County Council and she is a recently published novelist with her first book, Not Quite Home, coming out just a few months ago.

In her work at the Historic Trust, she helps inspire civic pride and economic vitality through education, preservation, and celebration of our community's history. The Trust manages all kinds of things down at the [00:01:30] Fort in the National Historic Reserve, and also owns and operates and preserves the historic Providence Academy.

And we are going to get into all of these different facets of Temple Lentz and her amazing body of work on today's conversation. I really enjoyed meeting Temple and I think you will too.

Adriana: I am sitting inside of the OO Howard House at the Historic Trust with Temple Lentz [00:02:00] Temple, you wear many hats. Will you introduce yourself? 

Temple: Sure. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. I'm really excited. I love this podcast and I'm really excited to be talking with you.

Adriana: Thank you. I'm excited too. 

Temple: Let's see. I just published a novel. And I am also the president and CEO of the Historic Trust nonprofit here in Vancouver. And I also am a recently elected Port Commissioner for the point of Vancouver.

Adriana: Oh my gosh. Congratulations on the Port Commissioner position. [00:02:30] That's very exciting. 

Temple: Thank you. 

Adriana: Yeah. I wanna start with your book. 

Temple: Okay. The book is called Not Quite Home, and it's a novel, so it's a fictional story, um, and it is set in Portland and the two main characters, it really focuses around two women instead of just like one main character.

And they're kind of an unlikely allies pair. Uh, one is Claire, a philanthropist who's frustrated at her dollars not seeming to make any difference. Uh, she supports the homelessness, human services sector, [00:03:00] and just not seeing any results. Um. And then the other character is a social worker, uh, who works with the unhoused population and she's also disgruntled and frustrated because she sees it every day.

And sees people who are hurting and feels like the system isn't helping them either. 

Adriana: Mm-hmm. 

Temple: So they manage to find each other and, uh, through their conversations and interaction, decide to partner up and work to create a [00:03:30] a tiny home community for 10 unhoused women. 

Adriana: Hmm. 

Temple: So the book is the story of them meeting, working through all of the hurdles that come with trying to create this solution that exists next to but outside of the primary system.

Adriana: Did you find that as you were creating these characters and their solutions that you came up with new ideas on how to deal potentially with the issues you were seeing in our [00:04:00] community? 

Temple: So the book is, so my first draft was written in mid 2021.

So also that's a little bit of a commentary on the amount of time it takes to actually get to press. 

Adriana: Right. Because now it's the end of 2025 and the book came 

Temple: out this year. Yeah. But, um, at that time, some of the solutions that we see in our community, we're really just getting started or maybe just ideas. 

Adriana: Mm-hmm. 

Temple: So [00:04:30] rather than like I came up with all these new solutions, um, it's more that I was really observing where people were doing interesting things other places and imagining how it might work here.

I didn't go in trying to write a book that was about social justice or political issues. I was interested in how women create community, how women solve problems together. And then personally, I was just interested in these [00:05:00] particular issues and those converged.

So I wanna write about interesting people solving, working together to manage big challenges.

Adriana: So speaking of that big work and collaborating on big projects and solving things you are the head of the Historic Trust.

Temple: Yes. 

Adriana: Which is really cool. So will you give us the 30,000 foot view statement on the Historic [00:05:30] Trust in our community?

Temple: Yeah, so the Historic Trust is a, is a 501C3 nonprofit 

And it is responsible for managing, preserving, protecting, and activating some of Vancouver and Southwest Washington's most important historic buildings.

So we manage city owned properties that are on the National Historic Reserve, which a lot of people know as Fort Vancouver. Um, [00:06:00] on this site, there's a lot more than the reconstructed fort. There's also all these cool old buildings, and the most famous section of them is Officers Row. But there are several others, and they're all from when this was Vancouver Barracks military base.

Uh, and then the city purchased a number of them. We've got about 35 ish buildings and then a few outbuildings in our portfolio. And the Historic Trust manages all of these,

and then we also, uh, do events here year [00:06:30] round to try to activate these spaces, bring people here, let them see how amazing this place is. In addition, the Trust also owns Providence Academy, which is downtown and just across the I-5 from, uh, the Historic Reserve. And the Academy is it's honestly one of the most important buildings in southwest Washington and related to, uh, Euro-American Social Services being founded [00:07:00] here.

Adriana: Mm-hmm. 

Temple: And it's a former Catholic school. Briefly an orphanage and a residence for the nuns and, and the headquarters for the Sisters of Providence in their very early years here in America. It's been here since 1873 and we also manage that. There's commercial units inside that building and then also a couple of event spaces.

The Trust has owned the Academy since 2015. That's when the Trust purchased it. And previously it [00:07:30] had been owned, uh, by the Hidden family who are a very long time family here.

A lot of folks know them from Hidden Bricks, which are really locally famous. Um, and actually the Academy was how the hidden Brickyard got started. 

Adriana: Mm. 

Temple: Uh, so Mother Joseph, uh, one of the sisters of Providence who came here in the 1850s, uh, saw that they needed more space, and so they needed to build an academy and she wanted to make it out of brick because she was [00:08:00] from Montreal.

And, uh, so that's also why we have one of the only French Colonial-style buildings in the area. That that's the style she wanted to build it in. And she needed bricks, so she talked to Lowell Hidden and uh got bricks from his new brickyard. When the Hiddens decided to sell, uh, the Trust purchased the Academy and then through individual donors, corporate [00:08:30] grants, they really undertook a lot of structural work on the Academy and then also restored

the beautiful event spaces that we have there. It has an amazing Gothic style chapel on the second floor. And then there's also, uh, the ballroom that is called Providence Hall, uh, that is on the first floor. And that was also restored.

We were able to keep it a hub of creative and personal and really [00:09:00] meaningful activities, as well as keeping it alive for all of these small businesses that are located in the Academy. 

We see it as our community service to continue to improve, activate, and showcase the Academy and the site and its history, and also its uses as a building that is for the community. Um, one of the projects that we have just finished is, uh, a beautiful landscape project the Sacred [00:09:30] Heart Plaza at Ed Lynch Square is its formal name. It's the south landscape of the Academy, and it is a combination of new and protecting the old. 

On the west side is a brand new plaza, uh, with, uh, beautiful plantings , but also a gathering space.

Now over on the east side, uh, we're not, we don't have as much new building because the sacred heart path right in front of the front entrance of the academy was actually laid out by Mother [00:10:00] Joseph herself in about 1875 and. Although the Academy site has changed dramatically, we really wanted to preserve the shape of the heart and what Mother Joseph initially did. Mm-hmm. So we've basically just cleaned it up and recreated it so that it can sustain for even longer. Have this beautiful juxtaposition of the original, the old and the new, and these uses, and [00:10:30] now we have this incredible space in front of the building for folks to enjoy.

Adriana: I love that. I also have been told there are maybe some ghosts running around. 

Temple: I haven't had any, uh, direct experiences myself, uh, but there are folks with stories. And, um, one of our favorites is, uh, at the Grant House, which currently has Willful Wine in it, where everybody should go. It's a fantastic restaurant and winery. 

Adriana: Yes. 

Temple: Um, so that is the oldest building on [00:11:00] the row.

It's the oldest building on the site. It's 1849 and it was the original Commander's house. Uh, it's named for, uh, President Ulysses Grant who did serve at Vancouver Barracks, but never in that commander's house. He was a quartermaster when he was here, relatively low rank. So if he was in that house, it was probably 'cause he'd done something wrong.

Um, but it was named for him when he came and did, uh, a tour of the, the area after, um, [00:11:30] he'd been president and, uh. One of the stories is that one of his compatriots was waiting for him to come, but wasn't, wasn't healthy. So he was in one of the bedrooms in the Grant House and he was waiting and waiting and waiting for Grant, but ended up passing before Grant made it.

And there are stories that his ghost, um, is still walking the halls of the Grant House waiting for Grant to arrive.

Adriana: I love these little tidbits and, you know, [00:12:00] secret histories of places. That's cool. So we've talked about hat number one, author, hat number two, director of the Trust.

You also now are one of our Port Commissioners in Vancouver. Um, just briefly, what are you most excited about? About what's coming up for us on the Port? 

Temple: Oh, well first of all, um, I'll just say that uh, the Port is a fantastic and fascinating place and it's an [00:12:30] incredible economic driver for our region. Um, there are 50 businesses there, a couple hundred employees. They move amazing amounts of goods in and out of the country.

Uh, Washington is one of the most freight dependent states in the nation, so, uh, the Port is a really important part of that. It is also speaking of history, one of the [00:13:00] oldest economic drivers, uh, that we have and it's still going strong.

Um, one of the things that is coming up that I think is really exciting is Terminal One, uh, which is right by the base of the Interstate 5 bridge on the, on the west side, that's the original terminal for the original port. The Port still owns that area. And as part of [00:13:30] waterfront development, uh, they're developing a, um, a public market. So sort of if you think, um, Pike Place, that's, that's one kind of public market.

There's also a really cool one in Wenatchee called Pybus Market. Uh, but it's a place for year round, um, food, restaurant, uh, and small vendor sales, um, and activities and small performance spaces. Um. And it's not going to compete with our [00:14:00] local farmer's market, but hopefully support it, uh, and give another option maybe for local market vendors who want a more permanent space or want to grow.

So, uh, they've been working very closely with the Farmer's Market to make sure that there is synergy there and not competition, but, um, that's to come and they're working on the plans for it right now, and I'm really excited about it as this reclamation of public space, um, [00:14:30] at a really fantastic moment in Vancouver's history.

We've done this great waterfront development on the west side of the bridge. We're working toward getting a new I-5 bridge when everything is done. This'll be a really vibrant and exciting place where the community can come together and I really look forward to it being a place that is accessible for everybody and that is activated year [00:15:00] round to just continue to grow.

The amount of activity that we're seeing in this community which is just bursting at the seams with creative folks, entrepreneurs, there's so much going on. 

Adriana: That leads me to a question I, I have for you because you, I feel like you have such a good view of so many different aspects of what's happening in this area, Vancouver in particular, but Southwest Washington generally.[00:15:30] 

What do you see as maybe the intersection of arts, culture, and history and commerce? Maybe what is your wish for that going forward? 

Temple: We are all products of where we come from. Uh, some of that's geographic, some of it's mental and emotional, and some of it is being a transplant. So everything that we [00:16:00] create is influenced by where we've been and where we are and where we think we might be going.

I can't say it's unique, but it's rare to find a place where you see so much intersection of all of these different areas of creative pursuits, of small business and economic, uh, of history. It isn't necessarily siloed. We have these beautiful buildings at the Historic Reserve and at the Academy where people are doing new and exciting [00:16:30] things.

And something that I love about the Trust is that we, especially at the Academy, have created a place that is affordable and accessible so people can take risks, whether it's with their small business or their creative pursuit. And there's a lot of that in Vancouver. This is a place that's willing to support people who will take risks and who will commit to doing something. And if you have the drive, the wherewithal and the [00:17:00] stick-to-it-ivness to, uh, to do something, to try something, you can, and the community will often step up to support it.

Adriana: Mm-hmm. 

Temple: Uh. It's not to say everything always works, but this is a place where it is safe to experiment. 

Adriana: Mm-hmm. 

Temple: And I think some of that has to do with the size. Um, I was actually just thinking about this as far as how hard it is to solve some of our big problems to think about the political part of it.

You know, I set my book in Portland because that's where the problem is so much [00:17:30] bigger and I wasn't seeing as many solutions. Vancouver was able to enact some solutions and take some positive steps that the bigger cities weren't able to, and Vancouver's now about 200,000 people. So we're not a small city.

Um, I think this sweet spot of a mid-size city and surrounded by so many other strong small cities, uh, is the [00:18:00] right size. For generating all of this activity. And, uh, I hope that as we go forward and as we get bigger, you asked about like, what's my vision? I hope we're able to sustain that and continue to grow in a way that supports the people who are testing different things out and that we don't become cookie cutter.

Adriana: Mm-hmm. 

Temple: Uh, we have an [00:18:30] amazing collection of people doing interesting things and new people coming and seeing what we're doing and wanting to be a part of it. 

Adriana: Mm-hmm. 

Temple: I wanna make sure we can keep that. 

Adriana: Okay. Listeners, she said that entire thing, no notes. That was just beautifully. I mean, it, I'm like, well, yes, you are a writer and a civic leader and you know, here you are with the most perfect, beautiful encapsulation of our community.

I'm gonna pause, go back, listen again, [00:19:00] and feel so good about where we are and where we're going. That was so lovely. Thank you. 

Temple: Oh, thank you. 

Adriana: Okay, so we're coming to the end of our time together. And I always ask people to shout out one or two local cultural organizations or creative folks who are doing good work in our community.

So think about that for a second. And while you're thinking about that, um, I wanna give a shout out for our weekly newsletter, and this is where we share even [00:19:30] more about the amazing creative people and organizations in our community.

And we give you a curated overview. Of upcoming events our newsletter is written by a human. That's me, no AI, so it's absolutely trustworthy and, and really fun. We also link to the episode page for that week's podcast where we post behind the scenes photos an article and even special offers from our guests.

And you can sign up for the newsletter by going to, imintothisplace.com, or [00:20:00] just simply click the link in the show notes for the episode that you're listening to right now. And if you like today's episode and my conversation with Temple, please click that follow button on your podcast app and then text this episode to a friend because following and sharing is the best way you can help us continue to make this free coverage of the arts, culture, and heritage that make our community thrive.

Okay. Temple. So who are you really into these days? 

Temple: So [00:20:30] I wanna shout out a couple of bookstores. Here in Vancouver, uh, one, uh, White Oak Books is a new book bookstore. They have a wonderful collection. It's owned by wonderful people and they really support the community as well.

So I hope the community will support them. And another store is Vintage Books. And they're a primarily used book bookstore with some new books and they're in The Heights and they're also, uh, independently owned and [00:21:00] curated by, uh, people who love books.

So go buy new books at, uh, White Oak. Go look for all the special treasures of used books at Vintage, um, and support some local businesses because they're doing great things. 

Adriana: Yes, please support our local bookstores. We need them to continue to exist. Mm-hmm. Well, this has been absolutely delightful. I'm so excited for whatever comes next, whether [00:21:30] it's a novel or short story collection. And also just to explore more of these incredible buildings down here. Go to some shows at Providence Academy and then eventually get on down to the public market. Absolutely. So thank you for spending some time with us today.

Temple: Oh, thank you so much. 

Adriana:   And now let's hear from you. This is our Community Voices segment, where you call in to shout out your favorites in local arts culture and Heritage Community Voices is sponsored by Johnson Bixby, Vancouver's woman-owned, women-led financial planning and portfolio management firm helping you plan for and celebrate life's possibilities.

Advisory Services by Johnson Bixby, SEC, registered securities through private client services member Finra, SIPC.

Guest:  Hello. My name is Skyla Haynes, and what I like in Clark County is Thatcher's Coffee Shop. My mom works there. They have wonderful scones, so amazing. Very good coffee. 

Guest:  My name is Joshua Iwata and I am into Hidden House event space. They. Have hosted everything from my 40th birthday to my daughter's graduation party, and, um, David and Elaine, the owners are just incredible people, incredible chefs and hosts, and they make, in my opinion, some of the best food I have ever eaten. I look forward to many, many more events in the future. Um, if you have a special event coming up, definitely consider booking them. They also will cater events.

Adriana:   We'd love to hear from you. What are your favorite spots in Clark County? Who really deserves a shout out? Give us a call and leave a message or send us a voice note via email. All the details on how to do that are in the show notes. 

I’m Into This Place is produced and hosted by me, Adriana Baer. Editing by Chris Martin Studios.  This episode was recorded on site at The Historic Trust. You can find out more the Trust and Temple Lentz -and us! - at imintothisplace.com.  See you out there!